Man accused of hacking Bush accounts appears in US court
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Romanian hacker known as Guccifer, who is charged with breaking into computer accounts of the Bush family, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and others, has been brought to the United States to face criminal charges.
Marcel Lazar, 44, of Arad, Romania, made an initial appearance Friday in federal court in Alexandria. He’s been charged with wire fraud, cyberstalking, identity theft, unauthorized access to computers and obstruction of justice. The charges carry prison terms ranging from five to 20 years.
...Guccifer also claimed credit for hacking the AOL account of Sidney Blumenthal, a confidant of Hillary Clinton, in March 2013. That subsequent leak of Blumenthal’s emails was the first time that outsiders became aware of Clinton’s private “clintonemail.com” address, which she used to communicate with Blumenthal. It has now become part of the investigation of whether Clinton mishandled sensitive emails. Blumenthal appears to be described in the indictment as Victim 5, “a journalist and former presidential advisor” whose account was hacked in March 2013.
Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, whose office is prosecuting the case, said in a press release Friday that “Lazar violated the privacy of his victims and thought he could hide behind the anonymity of the Internet. No matter where they are in the world, those who commit crimes against U.S. citizens will be held accountable.”
Justice Department officials said Lazar’s arrest is one of several recent prosecutions of high-profile cyber criminals. In the Alexandria courthouse, prosecutors have indicted Ardit Ferizi, a national of Kosovo who was arrested in Malaysia and brought to the U.S. for trial for allegedly hacking and providing names and addresses of U.S. servicemembers to the Islamic State. ...